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Amazon isn't lighting fires on transit push

A property tax was sought last year to fund a new system of bus rapid transit, new traditional bus routes and commuter rail between Detroit and Ann Arbor. The proposal won in Wayne and Washtenaw county, while failing narrowly in Oakland County and by a wide enough margin in Macomb County to scuttle the issue entirely.

Patterson, Hackel won't be rushed but are open to a new RTA plan

Talks remain ongoing among deputies

RTA may soon get permanent leader

The two chief opponents of last year's failed regional transit tax, now helping steer the next proposal, say Detroit's pitch for Amazon isn't pressuring them to rush.

And if that means nothing is on the ballot in 2018, so be it.

A year after voters rejected a four-county tax to fund buses and trains, transit leaders are getting Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel to help design a system they're willing to campaign for.

Rushing, they say, will just risk another failure, Amazon or not.

"What we're doing is allowing the regional leaders, their staffs, to work toward consensus. They have been good about meeting regularly," said Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan Board Chairman Paul Hillegonds. "The last model was to work independently and present the plan to leaders. They objected to and didn't get on board with that plan."

To make the new strategy work, RTA staff has been meeting regularly with the elected leaders' deputies to discuss a new master plan, how it should be funded, and when it could go on the ballot.

Hillegonds, who is senior vice president of corporate affair at DTE Energy and a former longtime state lawmaker wants a plan everyone actively supports before going to the public.

Patterson and Hackel's opposition last year, rooted in concerns over funding fairness and worries that taxpayers in outlying areas wouldn't get services, evolved into an agreement to not campaign against the ballot issue, which eventually was defeated at the polls — winning in Wayne and Washtenaw county, while failing narrowly in Oakland County and by a wide enough margin in Macomb County to scuttle the issue entirely.

Patterson said he's scheduled to meet with Wayne County Executive Warren Evans this week to discuss the RTA, and he credits Evans with being realistic about the need for political consensus across the region.

"He's emerging as one of the prime movers for the RTA. He understands the risks," Patterson said.

The longtime Oakland County leader said he's open to reaching an accord on a new regional plan as long as he believes it's fair in terms of taxes and service.

"We'll examine it fairly," he said.

Patterson didn't think the 2016 RTA master plan was fair because it taxed residents in areas that didn't receive transit services. Some of the master plan was scaled back, which Patterson considered enough to not actively campaign against the tax. He also didn't campaign for it, and the measure failed in Oakland County 50.09-49.91 percent.

The 2016 transit tax, which would have raised $2.9 billion over 20 years across the four counties, and been used to leverage additional state and federal dollars to reach $4.6 billion, was intended to pay for a regional system of bus rapid transit lines, create the long-discussed commuter rail service between Detroit and Ann Arbor, and among other things fund the QLine streetcar's operations in downtown Detroit.

The issue lost by fewer than 20,000 votes out of 1.7 million cast across the four counties.

Hillegonds has a basic message for those regional leaders: "You need to own this, help us create a revised plan, and own it to the extent you're willing to campaign for it."

There must be consensus among the elected leadership of the five constituent RTA entities about the next plan and tax for it to become a reality. That's the only way Hillegonds sees a path forward with voters because Patterson and Hackel are critical to convincing elected leaders down the chain to campaign for it.

"They can be helpful with us going to city and local leaders to convey our message to voters," Hillegonds said. "Regional consensus is absolutely critical. It can't happen any other way. Frankly, we can't go forward without their support. They have veto power over everything we do."

Andy LaBarre, chairman of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, said the RTA's new strategy is wise "given the political reality in Southeast Michigan."

Because Washtenaw doesn't have an elected county executive, LaBarre has been participating in the ongoing talks with deputies from the other municipalities, colloquially known as the Big 4.

"For this to be viable politically, it's got to be a plan where the Big 4 have enough agreement that they can go to voters with something that's compromise and consensus driven," he said. "We want to see what Oakland and Macomb agree to that will work for Wayne and Washtenaw and the city of Detroit."

In 2016, the master plan was actively supported by elected leaders in Wayne and Washtenaw counties, and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan backed it. The measure passed in those places.

Now, with Detroit leading an effort to entice Amazon to build its second headquarters here, and bring 50,000 jobs, talks are underway on how the region can meet the online retailer's desire for an effective mass transit system to move its workers. But Patterson and Hackel don't want to be rushed into a plan just for the sake of Amazon.

"That would be the wrong tactic for them to suggest," Patterson said. "That's the last thing I'll let happen, to be pressured into a plan."

He and Hackel both told Crain's last week they nor their deputies meeting with the RTA have any sense that the Amazon bid is fueling any need to hurry the process along.

Hackel said he doesn't believe a lack of an RTA system akin to what was pitched last year is a deal-breaker for Amazon, which is expected to narrow the list of 200-plus cities that submitted bids to a cadre of finalists before the end of the year and announce the winning city in 2018.

"I seriously doubt if they don't have the regional transit system others wanted, (Amazon) won't come here," he said. "I am one who refuses to be pushed into something because of other interest about it."

Hackel points to his county's support of Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, the primary bus system for the suburbs, as evidence Macomb County favors mass transit. SMART has its own dedicated tax.

As an interim step until an RTA master plan is created, SMART has proposed to increase the frequency of the limited-stop RefleX that it has operated in conjunction with the Detroit Department of Transportation since September 2016 along the high-density Gratiot, Michigan and Woodward corridors. The proposal, which could be launched in January if it's sorted out and funded, was included in Detroit's pitch for Amazon.com's second headquarters.

Evans is optimistic about the RTA effort.

"Our teams are working together regularly. There have been productive discussions and meetings. Perhaps the sting of last year's millage defeat and collaboration around the Amazon effort will bring us to a plan we can all support," he said via an emailed statement.

Concerns remain

There still remains varying levels of support for the RTA itself among the leaders, and different philosophies about why it should exist. Hence, consensus could remain a difficult goal.

Hackel, who balked at original RTA master plan over its board voting structure and how tax dollars would be apportioned for transit across the four counties, said last week that his chief use for the RTA isn't buses and trains.

"The RTA is helpful in that in can bring back more dollars for roads and bridges," he said, adding that Macomb County residents are primarily interested in getting streets fixed. "We want more regional transit, but that's not the No. 1 priority."

Hackel said the 2016 RTA plan and ballot initiative was rushed and didn't reflect what residents in the region really wanted. His concerns last year were mollified, but he didn't campaign for the ballot issue. This time, he said he feels "more confident" about the talks that have been underway among the RTA members over the past 12 months.

The RTA itself spent those 12 months licking its wounds over the failed tax, analyzing the elections results data, and cobbling together a new strategy to get a regional transit plan and tax proposal amenable to regional leaders who often are at odds with each other.

Consulting firm HNTB Corp., which was used to craft the 2016 RTA master plan, was hired to provide new transit plan options for the leadership to consider.

One option being studied now is to reduce the RTA's master plan footprint to eliminate rural areas in the four counties. They wouldn't get a vote on the RTA tax proposal because they wouldn't receive it services or be taxed for them. Theoretically, limiting the plan's tax district sheds a lot of the 'no' votes.

Reducing the RTA footprint would require legislative approval, and to make that happen in time to get a transit tax on the 2018 ballot something would have to be sent to Lansing early next year, Hillegonds said. That means the regional leaders would need to agree on at least the basic framework of a plan in coming months.

Evans prefers to use the existing RTA footprint, which is the boundaries of the four counties, but it open to alternatives.

"The more comprehensive the regional transit system, the greater the benefits, and I think there's a path forward to achieve that. I'd greatly prefer to get this done in the existing RTA footprint, but we don't support taking the same flawed plan back to the public while expecting the same result," he said.

Oakland County's northern reaches voted against the 2016 RTA tax because it didn't offer them much in the way of services, Patterson said, so he's open to reducing the RTA footprint to exclude those areas. He also said opt-outs, which would allow communities to not be part of the RTA, are an idea to consider. The RTA leadership opposes opt-outs because they create funding gaps.

Funding always looms over transit issues. SMART and DDOT have been fiercely projective of federal bus funding splits for the region, with RTA now acting as the coordinating agency for such dollars across the region.

SMART and the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority bus system both have operating tax renewals on the ballot in 2018, meaning voters in some places will be faced with two transit tax questions if there's also an RTA levy.

Part of the RTA's role is to ensure voters are educated about any tax question. By law, it cannot advocate for a 'yes' vote, but private campaigns typically are organized to get out the vote. Last year, a $6 million multimedia yes-vote campaign was funded by private backers.

Many of the region's business groups, hospitals, philanthropic groups and foundations, universities, financial institutions and companies, including DTE Energy Co., Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC, Detroit Athletic Club, Penske Corp., Rush Group and Ford Motor Co., signaled support of the RTA plan last year. A new plan will require going back to those backers for more support.

RTA internal leadership

Amid the quest for a new plan, tax, and regional consensus for them, the RTA remains without a full-time leader. Tiffany Gunter has been interim CEO since Michael Ford resigned in March over questions about his expenses.

Hillegonds praised her work and said the delay in giving her the job full-time was because the RTA had to determine if it would continue in its current setup or be altered some way.

"We've wanted to understand where RTA would be going in the future. In the past year, the transition to Tiffany's leadership has been tremendous. She's been an outstanding leader for the RTA. There's high confidence in her by the board and the regional leadership," Hillegonds said. "I believe the board in the near future will consider making her permanent."

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